On January 29, 2017 Elliot Sperling, a great scholar of Tibet, a strong supporter of the Tibetan cause and a friend of mine, passed away. I was lucky enough to spent some time with him at Harvard – where he taught Tibetan Studies, and I remember him as a wonderful man, humble, honest, and generous. While I was writing L’esploratore del Duce, and then Mussolini’s Explorer, he sent me a couple of books and numberless suggestions and clarifications on Tibet. Elliot Sperling thought that it was impossible to know its civilization without reading Tucci’s work.

It’s a real loss for everybody, not only the academic world, but also all the people devoted to human rights.